Majoring in psychology may not sound like the best preparation for a career dealing with everything from hurricanes to mayoral elections in a major metropolitan city, but Barbara Vaughn would be the first to disagree.

"Obviously a psychology major is a factor when you're marketing and trying to get a message across," said Vaughn, who has been director of public information for the city of Charleston, S.C., for 17 years.

A resident of this picturesque, Old South city for 31 years, she started a company creating job-sharing positions when her three children - now ages 32, 30 and 24 - were young.

"I was at a career crossroads," she recalled. "Creating that company allowed me to have a flexible work schedule and time with my children when they were small."

Vaughn was introduced to Charleston city government through her company when the city gave her a contract to make the public information and ombudsman jobs a shared position. "After awhile I became so consumed with the city that I gave up my company and became a full-time city employee," she said

Full time for Vaughn, who is the city's only permanent public information staff member, doesn't just mean an 8 to 5 job, especially during crises. When Hurricane Hugo barreled through Charleston with devastating intensity in September 1989, the city's residents were evacuated. But Vaughn, one of only a few city employees who stayed behind, was on the job morning till night, tirelessly dealing with regional and national media to get out information about the city's preparations for the category 4 storm and its massive cleanup operations.

"Since Hurricane Hugo, this area takes hurricanes very, very seriously. You have to be able to project far enough ahead so if there's evacuations and boarding up of homes, it's necessary to give that warning fast enough," she said. "If you don't, lives can be lost."

In the aftermath of Hugo, Vaughn ensured that Charleston's message was adjusted as the city recovered.

"The first week we needed help, and the most incredible help came from cities all over the East Coast and the Gulf Coast," she said. "After awhile, we realized the message the rest of the country was getting was that we had been wiped off the earth.

"We had to convey that we were cleaning up and rebuilding. When everything was put back together, we conveyed that we were ready for business once again."

Whether she's dealing with a crisis or business as usual, Vaughn especially enjoys the daily challenges that are part of her job establishing communications with the one-half million residents of the metropolitan area.

"Every day you're trying to make sure that you get the message of the mayor and the city of Charleston to the people. You have to be flexible and fast."

- Elizabeth Cooper